Math scores rise; concerns grow over reading

They know what’s happening but not why, an official said.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON — Although fourth- and eighth-grade pupils have shared slow but steady math gains for more than a decade, eighth-graders’ reading scores have stalled while their younger peers’ scores have continued to rise, according to test results released Tuesday.

“We need to look into reading deficiencies in middle and high schools in depth. That should be the next national imperative,” said Darvin Winick, the chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests.

The most recent tests — also known as the Nation’s Report Card — show that though fourth-grade reading scores are higher than they’ve been in 15 years, eighth-graders’ scores are roughly the same as in 1998.

For example, 52 percent of fourth-graders can use context clues to figure out what “pleading” means in a given sentence. By contrast, after reading a short passage, 41 percent of eighth-graders struggled to understand what a character’s actions say about her.

No Child Left Behind

The test results come as Congress heads toward what probably will prove a contentious debate on changes to the No Child Left Behind law, which faces a reauthorization deadline at the end of this month. The sweeping education measure, which President Bush signed into law in 2002, seeks to help all pupils do grade-level math and reading work by 2014. It includes a requirement that all states participate in the Nation’s Report Card.

The results of these tests, given this year to roughly 700,000 fourth- and eighth-graders across the country, provide the only national snapshot of how American pupils are doing. The tests, administered every two years, don’t assess the reasons behind gains or losses, however.

State improvements

Since 2005, both fourth- and eighth-grade reading scores increased in just four jurisdictions: the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Florida and Maryland.

The picture was far rosier for fourth- and eighth-graders in math. The District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Vermont all saw gains.

“We know what happens but not why,” Winick said. “The focus on reform seems to have had a positive effect. It is partially what states were doing and partially federal. I think we could say the focus on data that NCLB encourages has had a very positive impact.”

Determining the degree of that impact is another matter.

Experts are split on whether gains in math and reading on the Nation’s Report Card are part of a years-long and inevitable upswing in pupil achievement or proof that No Child Left Behind is working.